<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Fast Forward by DashFlintceschi</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23840722">Fast Forward</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DashFlintceschi/pseuds/DashFlintceschi'>DashFlintceschi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Prompt Table [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>You Me At Six</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Movie inspired, Time Travel, kind of, space travel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 19:20:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,775</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23840722</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DashFlintceschi/pseuds/DashFlintceschi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Dan goes caving alone and doesn't come back, his bandmates go looking for him. He's very confused when they find him, and they quickly realise it's because something is very, very wrong.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Prompt Table [20]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/510521</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Fast Forward</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Number 35 - Time.</p>
<p>I watched Time Trap on Netflix last week, and it made me anxious as all holy fuck, so naturally I needed to write an almost 7,000 word fic inspired by it. Doesn't follow the plot exactly, but does obviously have some spoilers for Time Trap. Can also kind of technically be read as a sequel to Stay With Me, but there's minimal, minuscule references to it, so they can definitely be treated as stand-alones.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Matt wakes up to a text full of coordinates from Dan, he thinks nothing of it. It’s something they’ve done for a while, when one of them goes caving alone, they’ll always text the other with the location they plan on starting at. His lack of worry is confirmed when he goes down to the kitchen and finds a note in Dan’s messy scrawl. <i>‘Gone caving, be back by dinner.’</i> He knows the others will worry a little, they always do, even when they go together, but Matt knows Dan will be fine.</p>
<p>He finally starts to worry when dinner comes and goes, and there’s no sign of Dan. Calls from all four of them just get a no signal tone, and they start considering their options when midnight comes and Dan hasn’t. They spend a restless night waiting, and the next day come up with weak excuses to try to keep themselves calm. For all they know, it was later than Dan expected when he’d resurfaced, maybe he’d slept in his car and he’ll be home by lunch.</p>
<p>He isn’t home by lunch. </p>
<p>Maybe he got stuck in traffic, he’ll be home by dinner, definitely.</p>
<p>He isn’t home by dinner.</p>
<p>Finally, as midnight comes and goes for a second time, Matt sighs and goes to the hall cupboard, the others following and watching curiously as he drags out his caving gear and starts hunting down the barely-used gear they’d gotten the other three.</p>
<p>“I can’t sit around and wait anymore, not when I know all the things that could’ve happened to him. We know where he went, we’re going after him at first light.” He insists, and none of them even consider arguing.</p>
<p>They sleep a little, but only because Matt makes them, it’ll be dangerous enough without them going in there on two days of no sleep. They still have the car packed and are all ready to go by the time the first few rays of sunlight appear on the horizon, and Matt doesn’t hesitate to start the car, checking one last time that he’s put the coordinates Dan sent him into the satnav properly before setting off.</p>
<p>It feels like a lifetime to get there, but the sun isn’t even fully up yet as they park beside Dan’s car.</p>
<p>“At least we know we’re in the right place,” Max comments softly, the others humming quietly in agreement as they quickly get out of the car and get their gear from the boot. They get a little frustrated and snappy with each other as they get ready to descend, it’s taking longer than usual without Dan there to help Matt run through the safety checks. But finally they’re ready and head into the cave, pausing at the top of the sheer drop a few feet in to set up their ropes.</p>
<p>Despite Matt’s vehement arguing, Josh insists on going first. He knows Matt really isn’t happy, doesn’t think it’s safe, but he just can’t spend another second not knowing. The desperation in Josh’s voice and all over his face are what makes Matt finally agree, still very reluctantly. Once Matt’s gone over all the safety instructions with him for the hundredth time, he finally lets Josh edge over the side and start working his way down.</p>
<p>It seems like a total non-event at first, exactly the same as the other few times he’s gone caving with them, except for an odd cold spot that he calls up to Matt to warn him of. He gets back a vague reply about gasses and shrugs it off as he keeps going. Josh is what he thinks is about half way down when he hears something below him that makes his body sag as all the tension drains out of him. Dan’s voice.</p>
<p>“What the fuck?” Ignoring every instinct he has screaming at him not to, Josh looks down. Less than ten feet below him, Dan’s hanging from his own rope, looking up at Josh with total confusion. “How the fuck did you catch up that fast?” He asks, and Josh doesn’t have time to wonder what he means before the other three are climbing down on either side of him.</p>
<p>“What part of ‘answer your fucking radio’ do you not get?” Matt snaps, and Josh lets the harsh tone slide, knowing it’s coming from a place of concern.</p>
<p>“My radio didn’t make a noise,” he insists, and all three of them are about to argue, when Dan speaks up in Josh’s defence.</p>
<p>“He’s right, it didn’t. If he’s been this close behind me the whole way down, I’d have heard it.” They hadn’t even noticed Dan until he speaks, so his presence derails the argument.</p>
<p>They try to make him climb back up with them, but he won’t listen, and all they can do is follow as he continues his descent. The moment their feet touch the cave floor, they’re scrambling to unclip themselves from the ropes, flinging themselves at Dan as they clamour to find the space to all hang onto him at once as they alternate between begging and demanding to know where the hell he’s been. He takes it for a few moments, before gently extracting himself from their grip, taking a few steps back as he looks between the four of them with confusion and just a little fear.</p>
<p>“What are you talking about? I just got here. I’d only been descending for about a minute or two when I looked up and realised you were practically on top of me.” He insists, and for a moment all they can do is gape at him, until Josh finds his voice again.</p>
<p>“You’ve been gone for two days.” He tells him, his voice sounding far calmer than he feels. Dan blinks at him for a second, then shakes his head.</p>
<p>“Except I haven’t. I only left the bloody house an hour ago,” he insists, and Josh casts around for a way to prove it, before pulling out his phone and lighting up the screen. There’s no signal and there seems to be a weird glitch going on with it, but the date is there clear as day as he holds it out to him.</p>
<p>“Dan, it’s Saturday, you’ve been gone for two days.” He tells him softly, and Dan slowly takes his phone, staring at it dumbfounded for a minute.</p>
<p>“But it’s Thursday,” he insists weakly, still staring down at the screen even though it’s gone dark again. He doesn’t think to assume it’s a prank, Josh could’ve easily changed the date on his phone, but something in him tells him it isn’t. Maybe it’s the frantic way they crowded him before, or some lizard brain body clock he doesn’t realise he has, but somehow he knows they’re telling him the truth, what felt like a little over an hour to him has been two days for them.</p>
<p>“I don’t know how this happened. I only just left, I swear.” There’s an edge of desperation in his voice that makes them crowd him again, wriggling around for a moment to fit four pairs of arms around him, and he falls into it. They believe him just as easily as Dan had believed them, they know he would never worry them this much on purpose, and certainly not for a joke.</p>
<p>They hold him and let him freak out for as long as he needs to, and ten minutes later, he’s calm again and they’re all ready to get the fuck out of there. Josh doesn’t fight it this time when Matt insists they keep the three of them between him and Dan, he doesn’t need to anymore. Dan goes first at their urging, he looks and feels fine, but they can’t help but wonder if or when those missing two days will catch up on his body. They all want to have a clear view of him at all times just in case, and he doesn’t see a reason to argue.</p>
<p>He’s about fifteen feet up, and Chris is just clipping his harness onto the rope to follow, when a noise comes from the top of the cliff and suddenly Dan’s falling. Chris braces himself to fight Matt’s hand on the back of his harness trying to pull him out of the way, and just about manages to catch him, letting out a not quite pained grunt as Dan slams into him. Chris staggers backwards a few steps, then Matt’s arms are around them both, keeping them on their feet as he looks them over for injuries.</p>
<p>They’re surprisingly both fine, the worst of it is a few nasty looking scrapes on Dan’s fingertips where he’d tried to catch himself, but even then his gloves took the brunt of it. Once they’re sure they’re both fine, Dan bends down to take a look at the rope, mostly to distract himself from his still racing heart. After a moment, he straightens up and holds the end of it out to Matt.</p>
<p>“Is it just me, or does that look like it’s been cut?” He asks darkly, the other three not understanding the edge in his voice as Matt takes the rope and holds it up to his eyes.</p>
<p>“Why would someone cut our rope?” Max asks softly as Matt swears and throws the rope down. Neither of them answer him as Matt goes to the other four ropes and gives them each a sharp tug. Sure enough, a few seconds later, they’re all pooled on the floor at his feet.</p>
<p>“Why would someone cut our rope?” Josh asks again, more forcefully than Max had, and they both sigh.</p>
<p>“I don’t know. A sick joke? Thought they’d been left behind? Could be anything. Either way, we’re stuck.” Matt tells them reluctantly, and Dan makes a soft thoughtful sound as he looks up.</p>
<p>“Not necessarily.” He hums, eyes still on the cliff as it takes a moment for Matt to figure out what he means, a choked noise coming from his throat as he strides over and grips Dan’s shoulder.</p>
<p>“No. Fuck no. You are not free climbing that.” He insists sharply, ignoring the other three as they look between the two of them in confusion.</p>
<p>“I can do it.” Dan tells him quietly but confidently as he finally drops his eyes to meet Matt’s.</p>
<p>“I’m not saying you can’t. I’m saying that’s at least three hundred feet, if you fall, you fucking die, and there’s no way I’m letting you risk that.” They finally look away from each other then, as Chris figures out what they’re talking about and gasps.</p>
<p>“You want to…” He trails off, motioning to the cliff, and Matt laughs humourlessly.</p>
<p>“He wants to climb that with literally nothing to stop him falling. He could definitely do it, I know he could, but there’s no fucking way I’m letting him try, and I know you guys will back me up on that.” He tells them, and the three of them instantly nod.</p>
<p>Dan lets out a frustrated sigh and shrugs as he looks between the four of them.</p>
<p>“Well, I don’t know what else we’re supposed to do, there’s no… other…” he trails off as a vague, hazy memory from last night; or maybe three days ago, depending how you look at it; niggles at him, and he tries to figure out what it is, finally getting just enough of an idea to make him pull his rucksack off his back and drop to a crouch as he rifles through it. He finds the map he’s looking for and unfolds it over his knees, muttering softly to himself as his fingers trace over it.</p>
<p>The four of them wait patiently, until finally he nods to himself and stands up, moving so they can all see the map as he points to one spot on it.</p>
<p>“Okay, so this is where we are, where we descended. And I’m really not sure at all, but this,” he pauses as his finger trails along to a different spot with similar markers. “Looks like it might be another entrance to this cave system. It might not be, and it might end up that one of us will still have to free climb at some point. But it might be a safe way out.” They consider it for a few moments, then one by one slowly begin to nod.</p>
<p>“It’s worth a try. Better than sitting here with my guts in my throat watching you climb that.” Josh agrees, and the other three murmur similar sentiments.</p>
<p>They take a few minutes to explore the cave, and after cautiously orientating themselves when they find a few caves branching off, agree on which one seems the most likely to take them in the direction they want and head off. Dan’s at the back of the group, leaving strips of glow in the dark trail marker tape on the wall every few feet in case they turn out to be wrong and have to work their way back. After a while, the others notice him lagging behind and stop to wait for him. As he catches up, the reason he’d been lagging becomes clear as a soft noise echoes from somewhere behind them and he whips around to squint into the dark again.</p>
<p>“Is… Is that something we should be worried about?” Max stammers softly, and Matt and Dan are quiet for a moment as they listen out for more noises and consider what they’d heard.</p>
<p>“For now, no, I don’t think so. Probably just an animal.” Matt finally replies, and Dan slowly nods.</p>
<p>“Whatever it is, I’ve been hearing it for a while and it doesn’t seem to want to come any closer, seems like it’s just keeping track of where we are and making sure we won’t bother it.” He adds, and they mostly relax, it’s not the most reassuring thing in the world, but if neither of them are too worried, the rest of them will try not to be too.</p>
<p>They walk mostly undisturbed for close to an hour, the occasional noises still come from behind them, but they’re still faint and distant, maybe even farther away than they were before. Chris swears he hears voices in the distance at one point, but when they all stop to listen, all they hear is their own breathing and the same soft scuff of rocks behind them they’ve been hearing. They finally stop to rest and eat under a hole in the roof of the cave that seems to lead to the surface, but the light looks strange and none of them can decide if it looks like daylight or not.</p>
<p>“I could free climb that, it’s not far and I could call for help.” Dan’s suggestion is quickly and loudly shot down by all four of them, and he sighs and nods and doesn’t fight it.</p>
<p>“Why are you so desperate to put yourself in danger?” Josh asks softly as they eat, and Dan stares down at his boots for a moment as he contemplates whether or not to answer.</p>
<p>“Because it’s my fault. I should’ve climbed back up when you told me to.” He finally mumbles, but in the close, stuffy air, they all hear him easily. Matt doesn’t hesitate, reaching over Josh to smack the back of Dan’s head. He barely feels it, his helmet takes most of the force, but he still gets the point, but Matt still drives it home anyway.</p>
<p>“No it fucking isn’t. You didn’t have any more of an idea of what was going on than we did. And honestly, I think you might have saved all of our lives.” He insists, and Dan nods, immediately understanding, but the three confused looks being sent Matt’s way makes him continue. “We leave no man behind. We’re only as fast as our slowest climber, and no offence, but all three of you are pretty fucking slow. We weren’t down here all that long before we tried to climb back up, and I honestly think if we’d started ascending again when we found Dan, we’d still have been climbing when the ropes were cut, there’s no way any of us would’ve survived that.” The three of them nod slowly, looking nervous and uncomfortable just at the thought of it.</p>
<p>They finish eating in silence, and it’s just as they’re pulling their rucksacks back on and getting ready to get moving again when another idea comes to Dan.</p>
<p>“I just thought of something. Not dangerous, no free climbing this time. If that does lead to the surface, we could maybe use it to get a signal? If one of you lets me stand on your shoulders, it might just be enough,” he tells them, and they consider it for a moment before nodding, it’s not dangerous and it’s worth a shot, they may as well try. They decide on having Josh stand on Dan’s shoulders, as the two tallest of them all, they have the best chance of potentially making it work, and they both easily agree that Dan can take Josh’s weight much easier than Josh can take his.</p>
<p>Dan crouches so Josh can step up onto his shoulders with Matt and Chris’ help, gripping his ankles tightly before he starts slowly, carefully straightening up, making sure Josh can shift his footing and rebalance himself as much as he needs to. Once they’re both fully upright, Josh’s head and shoulders are in the hole, and he manages to squeeze his arm in too so he can see his phone.</p>
<p>“The signal keeps flickering in and out, and it’s glitching even worse, but I’ll try to call someone anyway,” he calls down to them, shifting a little to get a better grip on his phone. The last call on his log before all the useless calls to Dan had been Tom, so he doesn’t bother wasting time and hits the dial button. He puts it on speaker since he doesn’t want to risk losing the signal as he moves it to his ear, and can’t help the loud relieved laugh that comes from him as it starts to ring, it’s faint and staticky, but it’s something.</p>
<p>It rings for a while, and Josh is just starting to worry, when there’s a click as it’s answered, before a few seconds of silence.</p>
<p>“Josh?” The voice isn’t what he’d been expecting, it’s almost Tom’s, but it sounds wrong in a way he can’t figure out.</p>
<p>“Yeah, it’s me, hey, listen, we need…” He trails off as he hears a sob from the other end.</p>
<p>“Where the fuck have you <i>been</i>?” Tom’s voice sounds even more wrong now, but this time Josh recognises why. He’s crying, pretty hard by the sound of it. Josh feels guilty as he pushes on, but he knows he needs to.</p>
<p>“We’re in a cave, out near Aldershot, I think, but something really weird is going…” He trails off again with a sigh as his phone beeps and drops the call. He tries again, but all he gets is static and weird beeps he’s never heard his phone make before. He calls down to Dan to let him down, and when his feet are on the floor again, they all look at him expectantly. “I got through to Tom for a minute, but something wasn’t right. He sounded weird, I dunno, like…” He pauses for a moment as he thinks about it, plays Tom’s voice in his head again, and it hits him. “It’s going to sound mental, but he sounded… Old.” He finally tells them, and they’re quiet as they think about it.</p>
<p>“It makes sense.” Dan eventually mumbles, and they all look at him. “I mean. I was down here for less than five minutes and it was two days for you. We’ve been down here well over an hour now, how long will that have been up there?” He explains softly, and they go quiet again as it all sinks in, four of them startling a few minutes later at a soft noise that turns out to be Max crying quietly.</p>
<p>“They’re never going to know what happened to us, are they? By the time we get out of here, everyone we know will be gone, and they’ll have died not knowing,” he sobs, and Josh, Matt, and Chris move to comfort him, but all Dan can do is sink to the floor with his head between his knees as he tries to come to terms with Max’s words. He’s right and Dan knows it, but he’d been doing a pretty good job of not thinking about that until now.</p>
<p>By the time the other three manage to calm Max down enough to realise Dan needed them too, he’s calmed himself down. Well no, he’s not calm, he’s pissed. At himself, at the world, at this fucking cave for doing this to them.</p>
<p>“Come on. We’re getting the fuck out of here. I don’t care how.” He bites out as he gets to his feet, nudging his way past them so he can get moving again, much faster than they had before. His hands move on autopilot, still sticking trail markers to the wall as he walks, ignoring the others rushing to catch up as they call out to him trying to get him to calm down.</p>
<p>The only thing that makes him pause is Josh’s desperate voice ten minutes later.</p>
<p>“Dan, please slow down, my ankle really hurts.” He immediately freezes, before turning around and watching Josh limp towards him for a moment. He meets him in the middle, pulling his rucksack off and pushing it into Matt’s hands.</p>
<p>“Get on my back.” He demands as he turns and crouches, but Josh just gently touches his shoulder.</p>
<p>“Can we maybe just walk a little slower for a while?” He pleads softly, and Dan sighs.</p>
<p>“No, we can’t. We’re not staying in here any longer than we have to.” He insists stubbornly, and Josh knows from the slight edge in Dan’s voice that he won’t win this one, so he just sighs and nods and carefully climbs onto Dan’s back.</p>
<p>Dan’s about to start walking again when he realises the air has changed, and a list of all the gasses he knows could build up in a cave starts running through his mind.</p>
<p>“Masks. Right now.” He snaps out, and none of them hesitate, Matt and Max get their own on before pulling Josh and Dan’s from their bags for them and helping them pull them on. “We should definitely have already been wearing these, we keep them on from now on, food and water breaks only.” He tells them, and they all nod easily.</p>
<p>They set off again, reluctantly following Dan’s fast pace. His anger could have kept him going for god knows how much longer, but he’s panting and drenched in sweat when Max finally convinces him to stop to rest.</p>
<p>“I’m so tired, please just let me sleep for a little while, please.” He begs, and Dan’s guilt finally outweighs his anger. He nods and gently eases Josh to the floor, making sure he’s settled and comfortable before dropping down beside him. He’s a little desperate to keep going, wishing he could carry both Josh and Max on his back as he’s painfully aware of every second that passes, and still wondering how much time that is topside.</p>
<p>After a few minutes, though, Josh starts humming and slowly transitions into softly singing to block out his own anxiety, and it’s enough to calm them all and slowly lull them to sleep. Dan jerks awake what feels like a long time later, cursing himself and trying to force himself not to panic as he checks his phone and starts shaking the others awake.</p>
<p>“Guys, wake the fuck up, c’mon. We’ve been asleep for fucking hours, we need to move.” He barks, startling them all awake. Despite that, they’re slow to get moving, stiff and aching from how far they’d walked, and from sleeping on the ground, and they have to convince Dan to sit back down and eat something and drink some water first.</p>
<p>He starts fidgeting and pacing again as soon as he’s done, and the rest of them end up forcing themselves to move quicker to be ready before he loses his cool and bolts without them. Matt has to take a moment to convince Dan to let him carry Josh for a while, knowing he’ll keep ignoring the strain it puts on his body until they end up having to carry both of them. Dan eventually agrees just so they can get moving, slinging his and Matt’s bags onto his back and just about managing to wait until Josh is settled on Matt’s back before he takes off.</p>
<p>They’re all a little frustrated with having to keep up with him, but they know he needs to do this, that he’ll completely lose it if they try to make him slow down, so they shrug it off as best they can and just focus on making sure he drinks some water as often as they can convince him too. After several more hours of walking, he suddenly stops, and they think he might have finally run out of steam, but they cautiously peer over his shoulders and realise that’s not the case.</p>
<p>They’ve reached a crossroads, and passing from their left to their right is what looks like a tribe. They all freeze, hoping the tribe are as wary of them as they are. They catch the attention of one of them, who barks out something to the rest of the tribe, but all they do is eye Dan suspiciously for a moment and keep moving, while the one who’d originally spotted them seems to stand guard. Just as the last few stragglers pass them, Dan meets the guards eyes and slowly points up, hoping he’ll understand. He seems to, thinking for a moment before pointing behind himself, to the path directly across from where Dan’s standing. Dan nods and tries to look as grateful as possible, and the man returns his nod before following the last small group of his tribe into the dark.</p>
<p>They wait a few moments, letting the tribe put more distance between them, before they cross to the path they’d been pointed to, this time none of them grudging Dan’s fast pace as they can’t help but peer back over their shoulders every few minutes. Thankfully the tribe seem to want to stay away from them just as badly, and there’s no sign of them after that. They’re still nervous though, especially when the continued soft scuffs of rock behind them make them wonder what; or who; has been tracking them all this time.</p>
<p>They manage to convince Dan to stop to eat a few hours later. After a few moments, Chris notices Dan’s just staring at his boots, ignoring the ration of food Matt had set down beside him. He nudges him lightly, trying to prompt him into eating, but Dan just shudders and doesn’t quite manage to fight down a sob.</p>
<p>“They… They were ancient. Before the Romans.” He stutters out hoarsely, and Chris sighs, pulling him into a one armed hug as he picks up the food with the other and gently presses it into Dan’s hands.</p>
<p>“And they don’t seem to want to leave. That’s the difference. They’re happy down here. But we’ll get out, and we’ll be okay. And the faster you eat, the faster we can do that,” he soothes, and Dan nods numbly, finally seeming to notice the food in his hands and starting to eat quickly, barely tasting it as he tries desperately to force his mind away from those thoughts.</p>
<p>They can’t convince Dan to stop again after that, and Max is just about to start begging again when Dan suddenly freezes, reaching back to grab a handful of Matt’s t-shirt and drag him forwards.</p>
<p>“Do you feel that?” He almost whispers, voice hoarse with exhaustion and barely contained hope, and after a moment, Matt lets out a whoop and throws his arms up.</p>
<p>“Yes! Thank god!” He crows, and the other three share a confused look, until Josh freezes on Matt’s back, tilting his head to the side as he focuses on what he thought he felt and desperately tries not to get his hopes up.</p>
<p>“Is… Oh my god, is that a draught?” He finally gets his hopes up as they both nod happily, and all he can do is laugh as tears of relief slip down his face.</p>
<p>This time Dan is the only hesitant one, but only for as long as it takes to check they’re all still wearing their masks properly and that they’re working. He never says it, but they all know he’s scared of what they’ll find when they emerge, and to be honest, they are too. Neither of them say anything or acknowledge it as Dan slips his hand into Chris’ as they start walking again, other than the comforting squeeze Chris gives him. They’re moving slower now as they follow the draught, and they’ll blame it on the incline they have to slog up, but they all know it’s because they’re ever so slightly terrified. </p>
<p>And they have every right to be.</p>
<p>When they reach the mouth of the cave and step out onto the ledge, it’s totally unrecognisable. Everything is just… Gone. Barren wasteland as far as the eye can see, and a sky that’s a sickly shade of grey. Normally that wouldn’t worry them, they’re more used to grey skies than not, but this… This doesn’t look right, doesn’t look like anything they’ve ever seen before. Dan takes a few slow, deep breaths, and tries to ignore how obvious it is that his mask is working hard to make sure the air doesn’t poison him, squeezing Chris’ hand a little as he turns to look at them all.</p>
<p>“Okay. So. Two options. We can go back into the cave, hope there’s a water source and food, or that the tribe we saw takes pity on us, live out the rest of our lives, or maybe til the sun burns out, and just be glad we still have each other. Or we head out there, hope it looks worse than it is, and try to find something or somewhere that’ll keep us alive for a while. What’d we think?” He asks slowly, his grip tightening bit by bit on Chris’ hand as he fights not to hyperventilate. He must be hurting him by now, but it’s okay, Chris is holding his hand just as tight.</p>
<p>They all hesitate, they know the first option is really the only one they have, but committing to it means admitting this is real, and they’re not all that sure they can handle that yet. Chris is just opening his mouth to make the decision for them, when a deafening rumble splits the air, and the sky opens, a shaft of light momentarily blinding them as it surrounds them. Dan almost wants to think he was right, that it’s not as bad as it looks and the sun is coming back out, but the light is wrong, too artificial to be the sun. They’re still trying to blink away the spots in their vision enough to see when they feel something surround them, almost like a blanket, but then it pulls tight and starts to lift them from the ground and they have a moment of sheer unbearable panic before something snaps over each of their faces and everything goes dark.</p>
<p>Dan wakes up slowly, drifting through the awful sluggish feeling as he tries to shake off the god-awful nightmare he just had. It had felt so real, but there’s a bed under him now, so it can’t have been, right? He finally feels awake enough to move a little, wincing slightly at the deep ache in every muscle of his arm as he brings it up to rub his eyes, going cold as he feels the mask covering his face. It’s not the one he’d been wearing in the cave, this feels like plastic, or maybe plexiglass, and his own mask seems to be gone.</p>
<p>He takes a moment to at least try to think. He can breathe easier than before; he’s hyperventilating, but it’s easier; that’s probably why he has the mask. He doesn’t think he’s in a hospital, he can’t feel any cannulas in his skin, and he can’t hear any machines, and if he’s honest, the bed is far too comfortable. He starts to wonder if it even happened, if maybe his first thought that it had been a dream was right, but that deep ache in his arm; and the rest of him, he now realises; would only come from pushing himself too hard for too long, and from dehydration, and he can still feel the dirt and dust and congealed sweat on his skin, even his heavy climbing boots are still tight on his feet.</p>
<p>Finally, after a few long minutes, he decides it has to be real, and he has no idea where he is, or where the others are. That last thought is what makes him finally open his eyes as he bolts upright, grunting but otherwise ignoring the sharp ache of his core muscles at the movement. He realises he’d been wrong about one point, the room he’s in has the sterile white everything of a hospital, and there’s some kind of device silently monitoring him from his bedside, a blue light flickering that he assumes is caused by his panic.</p>
<p>He ignores it as he looks around frantically, he can’t see his boys, but there’s a few beds with the curtains pulled around further down the long room, and he’s just a little hopeful. He slowly struggles out of bed, giving the monitoring device an ineffective swat as the flickering blue light turns an oddly ominous purple. He winces as his feet touch the floor, and pauses to bend down and unlace his boots, slipping his feet out of them as he stands up and starts the slow, painful hobble to the other occupied beds.</p>
<p>He finally gets to the closest bed and cautiously peeks around the curtain. The first thing he sees is Josh sleeping peacefully, and he lets out a sigh of relief and steps closer. It’s only then that he realises they aren’t alone, there’s a woman beside Josh’s bed, prodding the monitor as it gives a pulsing, cheery yellow light that somehow reassures Dan that Josh is totally fine. She finally notices him then, turning and saying something to him, but it’s nothing like any language Dan has ever heard before. She’s smiling though, and her voice sounds cheerful, so he thinks it can’t have been a bad thing.</p>
<p>She notices his confused look and holds up a hand, at least the signal for ‘hang on a moment’ doesn’t seem to have changed. After a moment of fiddling with what looks like a small brooch on her uniform, she smiles at him again.</p>
<p>“How wonderful to see you up and about, finally!” She repeats, just as cheerful as the first time, and Dan blinks at her for a moment, trying to figure out what the hell he’s supposed to say. Eventually, it’s the only thing he really cares about that blurts its way out.</p>
<p>“Are my friends all okay?” He asks, pulling a face and clearing his throat when he realises how rough his voice sounds. The woman; their doctor? Or nurse?; smothers a laugh and fiddles with the device in her hands, it looks like a smartphone or tablet to Dan, but he knows it can’t be. He jumps and makes a soft startled noise as something inside his mask moves and plastic touches his lips. He looks at her with confusion and a tiny bit of fear, and she mimes taking a drink. He realises then how dry his mouth and throat are, and decides to risk it. He cautiously lets the plastic slip into his mouth, and a second later has a mouthful of cool water, it seems exactly the same as any other water he’s ever had, could have just came from his own tap, and he takes several big grateful gulps before pushing the tube out of his mouth with his tongue.</p>
<p>Once he’s done, the woman smiles at his appreciative nod and finally answers his question.</p>
<p>“Your friends are absolutely fine, sweetheart, in perfect health, in fact. This young man’s ankle has been repaired, and you’ll notice your fingers have been too,” she pauses then with an indulgent look as he blinks in surprise and looks down at his hands. Sure enough, the scrapes and grazes that had covered his fingertips from when he’d fallen are completely gone.</p>
<p>They’re both distracted then as Josh drifts awake with a soft groan. Dan immediately goes to him, apologising absently to the medic as he brushes past her. Josh blinks his eyes open and takes a panicked breath just as Dan sits on the edge of his bed, and thankfully his presence and calm facade stop Josh from panicking too much. Dan explains what he knows so far in as soft and gentle a voice as he can manage, and Josh definitely isn’t calm, but he has a handle on it, mostly. He gets up slowly with help from both of them, making a small surprised noise as his ankle takes his weight easily, even though Dan had already explained that.</p>
<p>They go through this process three more times, waiting for each of the boys to wake up and calmly talking them through it all, until the five of them are following the woman; Hanna, their doctor, they now know; out of the medical assessment centre. She explains further as she shows them around the ship, how what had been worrying climate change in their time had become an extinction level catastrophe, and the race to create a way for humans to escape the earth in time. How they’d travelled the stars searching for a new home, but one man remembered his thirteen times great grandfather, who’s friends had vanished into a cave and never returned, except for one phone call when he was almost 100 and his friend hadn’t sounded a day older. </p>
<p>Josh can’t help the slightly hysterical laugh that bubbles out of him then. They’d already known she was talking about Tom, and knowing he’d been so old then, and Josh literally <i>hadn’t</i> been a day older, forces him to acknowledge some of the panic he’s been shoving down. They take a moment for him to lean against the wall, Max rubbing his shoulder comfortingly as he forces himself to take deep breaths and they all try to come to terms with the fact that so much time has passed that Tom is someone’s thirteen times great grandfather. He hadn’t even had kids when they’d left.</p>
<p>Once they’re ready and mostly calm again, they continue their tour, and Hanna continues her story. She tells them how, as mankind moved further away from the earth and settled on a new home, a second, smaller exploration ship had moved back towards it, following old myths of a fountain of youth and ancient maps of England with the help of the tiny amount of information Josh had managed to give Tom. They’d found the mostly destroyed remains of their cars near the cave, and after a camera had found the cliff and no way for them to get back up it, had followed thermal signatures to the cave they’d eventually emerged from, which was how they’d been able to snatch them up before the toxic air had managed to seep through their masks and kill them.</p>
<p>They’re still trying to process all this as she makes it very clear that the air on the new planet humans had settled on is much different from the air they’re used to, and they absolutely must keep their masks on at all times until Hanna and her team are able to acclimate them to the new air. She pauses then as a member of her team joins them and they speak for a moment in the same strange language Dan had heard before. As the man leaves them again, Hanna turns to them and beams, before leading them to a large observation deck and letting them gape at the massive planet below.</p>
<p>“Welcome, gentlemen, to Anterrades. Your new home."</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>